‘A part of our history that is often underrepresented’: First Light, St. John’s looking to construct monument for residential
By Sanuda Ranawake Local Journalism Initiative Reporter JOHN’S, N.L.- First Light, in partnership with the City of St. John’s is proposing, a number of methods to Indigenize the city’s downtown core.One of the major steps includes a monument to honour residential school survivors.Jordan Lawrence, First Light’s Action Circle coordinator, says the projects are important for the community and the city. “The reason that we landed on Indigenizing downtown, the City of St. John’s is a partner at First Voice, so they’re aware of our calls for change and how truth and reconciliation needs to be taken on by both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people,” says Lawrence. Engagement sessions with communities are currently ongoing in partnership with First Light, First Voice, and the city. Lawrence says the sessions, one of which includes...
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First Nations group condemns BC United statement on Haida land agreement
By Seth Forward Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) has condemned a “misleading and factually incorrect” March 22 statement from the BC United Caucus which criticized a recently drafted Haida Title Land Agreement. The FNLC said BC United’s statement, which called for an immediate pause in land title talks, politicized First Nations peoples’ human rights as outlined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). “Rather than seeking to deny First Nations our most basic human rights, in clear violation of domestic and international law, we encourage all British Columbians to stand with us in celebrating the current provincial government and the Haida Nation’s tremendous accomplishment,” read a March 25 news release from the FNLC, which is made up of members from...
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Two daughters, two parents, and echoes of a murder that rocked Indigenous activism
Indigenous activist Anna Mae Pictou was shot and killed 49 years ago amid controversy the American Indian Movement ordered the hit after suspecting her of being an informant The Canadian Press – Mar 24, 2024 / 6:19 am Photo: The Canadian Press In this composite image made from two photographs, Rebecca Julian, left, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash’s eldest sister, and Aquash’s eldest daughter, Denise Maloney, hold a portrait of Aquash in Shubenacadie, N.S., on June 20, 2003; At right, Naneek Graham holds a photograph of her father John Graham, who is incarcerated in the South Dakota State Penitentiary after being extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and convicted three years later in the 1975 murder of Pictou Aquash, while posing for a portrait at her home in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Feb....
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Six Nations Elected chief attends opening of Toronto community centre
TORONTO-Six Nations Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill was among those attending the opening of a Toronto recreational centre and library renamed the ‘Ethennonnhawawstihnen’ Community Recreation Centre and Library. The centre name “Ethennonnhawahstihnen” comes from the Huron-Wendat Nation translating into “where they had a good, beautiful life.” The centre pays homage to the site’s historical significance. Located near Bayview and Sheppard Avenues in North York it is within close proximity to the Moatfield Ossuary, a Huron-Wendat archaeological site w that shows long habitation by Indigenous peoples. Mayor Olivia Chow thanked all parties involved for their dedication to honoring Indigenous culture and history, while creating meaningful public spaces. Councillor Shelley Carroll told the gathering it was an example of fostering dialogue and preserving Indigenous heritage within the community. Chief William Romain of the...
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Feds announce millions to help First Nations negotiate mining deals
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Ottawa will provide over $15 million to assist First Nations and Indigenous groups considering mining deals on their ancestral lands. The federal government’s funding announcement came Wednesday at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference, one of the world’s largest mining industry gatherings, held this year in Toronto. About one-fifth of the financial support will be from the new Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund. The funding stream will award grants to Indigenous groups to support engagement, knowledge sharing and capacity building for critical mineral development. The new fund will stretch until 2030 and provide $13.5 million over that period. The other significant portion of the funding, around $10.4 million, will be awarded to particular Indigenous groups to advance projects and capacity building. The...
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The struggle to trust while conserving nature in the North
By Matteo Cimellaro Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Around 100 people gathered this week in the Kashechewan First Nation High School gym to celebrate a milestone in the creation of a new Indigenous-led Marine Conservation Area on the James Bay coastline. Once established, the project will be ultimately managed by a partnership of Parks Canada and the Mushkegowuk Marine Conservation, which includes eight Mushkegowuk First Nations as well as Fort Severn and Peawanuck First Nations. The project is called Omushkego Wahkohtowin, which means “people with the right relationship to the land and waters.” But amidst upbeat speeches and a countdown to live music, there was at times tense concern and distrust of land and water agreements with the government. It was an informal setting, where some attendees were on their phones...
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‘We have to try’: Ottawa, Manitoba commit $40M to search landfill for slain women
Cambria Harris, daughter of Morgan Harris, right, who is believed to be buried in a landfill outside Winnipeg, and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, speak during a press conference in Winnipeg, Friday, March 22, 2024. PHOTO BY JOHN WOODS /THE CANADIAN PRESS By Brittany Hobson and Steve Lambert THE CANADIAN PRESS “We’re glad to be able to move forward with the funds necessary to search every cubic metre of the relevant space,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said in a statement Friday. “While we don’t know if the search will be successful, we have to try.” WINNIPEG- Families of two slain First Nations women received word Friday that the federal and Manitoba governments are putting up $20 million each to help search a landfill for the women’s remains. “I’m very grateful...
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Maritime body approves new protections for shipping in Canadian Arctic
The international body that regulates shipping is approving new environmental protections for the Canadian Arctic. The International Maritime Organization says it will tighten restrictions around fuels that vessels in those waters can use. The changes would reduce emissions of pollutants as well as black carbon, a fine soot that darkens sea ice and hastens its melt. The proposal, made by the Canadian government, has been approved and is to be adopted at the group’s next meeting. The Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents Inuit people around the Arctic, says it welcomes the announcement. Canadian government documents suggest complying with the new rules could raise costs for northern families by up to about $40 a year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2024. ...
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Ousters major theme of Kanesatake community meeting
By Marcus Bankuti Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Sidelined at the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK), grand chief Victor Bonspille used a community meeting Tuesday to outline his grievances and reiterate his call for a general election. He was prevented from using community funds for mailouts for the meeting, he said, and is currently using his personal email address to communicate with outside governments and associations after being locked out of his account. “Right now, the Council made the decision to suspend him pending a public meeting,” said MCK chief Serge Otsi Simon, citing complaints such as Bonspille’s attempt to put the community into third-party management and his involvement in the shuttering of the band office last autumn. Another chief, Brant Etienne, said Bonspille has abdicated his position by refusing to...
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Families of slain women to meet with governments, provide update on landfill search
WINNIPEG- The families of two slain First Nations women are expected to provide an update in their push to get governments to fund a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the women’s remains. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are set to hold a news conference about the outcome of a meeting with the city, provincial and federal governments. The families have accused the provincial government of delays and inaction since it promised during last fall’s election campaign that there would be a search of the landfill. Premier Wab Kinew has said he is committed to getting the landfill searched but, as of earlier this month, could not answer questions about timelines, operation details and funding. An Indigenous-led committee commissioned two reports...
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City of Iqaluit considers new subdivision near Inuit lands, Aqsarniit hotel
By Jeff Pelletier Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The City of Iqaluit is considering the possibility of a new subdivision to be developed by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association near the Aqsarniit hotel. Matthew Dodds, Iqaluit’s director of planning and development, presented the proposal at Tuesday’s planning and development committee meeting. He noted that council previously voted to pursue this possible subdivision in 2022, but there have been a few new issues to emerge since then. They include Iqaluit receiving money through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund earlier this year, a study being conducted to improve the flow of traffic near Inuksuk High School and other infrastructure upgrades in the core area. One of the concepts for the new subdivision includes a possible new bypass road that would branch off of...
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Feds issue permit to build nuclear waste disposal site
By Natasha Bulowski Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Construction on Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ radioactive waste disposal facility won’t jeopardize the recovery of endangered turtle and bat populations, according to the federal government. On March 18, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) was granted a federal permit required under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to start construction on its near-surface waste facility (NSDF) about 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. For the permit, three endangered species were considered: the Blanding’s turtle, the little brown bat and the northern long-eared bat. Ultimately, the company’s permit application was approved in mid-March by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada. The decision by CWS said CNL successfully demonstrated feasible measures will be taken to minimize the impact of construction on the...
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‘We are sorry’: Manitoba premier apologizes to two men switched at birth decades ago
By Steve Lambert THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG-Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew formally apologized at the provincial legislature Thursday to two men who were switched at birth in a hospital almost 70 years ago. Kinew called it a terrible wrong that cannot be undone but must be acknowledged and atoned for. “Ed and Richard are here today as two people wronged by the Manitoba government and the institutions they should have been able to trust,” Kinew said as Edward Ambrose and Richard Beauvais sat nearby. “They were wronged from the very first day each of them arrived here on Earth.” The premier said the men were denied connection to their families, and their parents were denied their children. The men said they appreciated the apology and also a private meeting with Kinew...
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Key recommendations from the government’s review of the Cannabis Act include Indigenous communities
Indigenous communities key recommendations include co-developing cannabis amendedments to protect health and safety and agreements to control commercial cannabis activites OTTAWA- More than five years after cannabis was legalized in Canada, the government has released its final report of the legislative review of the Cannabis Act. The report is the result of 18 months of work by a panel of industry experts to assess the progress of cannabis legalization and make recommendations to improve upon cannabis legislation. Here are some of the key recommendations made by the report. Public health The report makes a number of public health recommendations concerning issues including product promotion, packaging and labelling, children and youth, and potency. It calls on Health Canada to set and monitor targets for reducing youth and young adult cannabis use,...
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Chippewas of Nawash pass resolution banning unsanctioned ceremonies
By Cory Bilyea Local Journalism Initiative Reporter NEYASHIINGIIMIING- On Jan. 29, the Chippewas of Nawash Band Council passed a Band Council Resolution (BCR) that gives them the exclusive right to ban or approve a ceremony and to decide what is or isn’t considered a ceremony. A concerned Neyaashiinigmiing community member provided Midwestern Newspapers with a copy of a letter addressed to them from Chippewas of Nawash Chief and council, which says, “Council passed resolution #979 recognizing that the First Nation has inherent right to decide what `ceremony’ can take place on its territory. Council contemplated a referendum, knowing well that the diverse spiritual views in the community could give rise to debates surrounding what constitutes a ceremony within their tradition. “We would like to emphasize that the fact that a...
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Mohawk Council of Kahnawake joins call for Northwolt mega-lithium battery environmental assessment
By Miriam Lafontaine Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief Ross Montour was in Montreal this week alongside environmental groups calling on Quebec to submit the Northvolt mega-lithium battery plant to an environmental assessment process. Activists with Greenpeace, Equiterre, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Nature Quebec all gathered at a press conference this Monday. They say public trust is being eroded because citizens and First Nations aren’t being properly consulted about the project and how it could impact the environment. “You have to take into account the potential impact of your decisions on the faces that are still in the earth and the faces yet to come, or as some people say, the seven generations,” Montour told the room, mentioning the Great Law of Peace. “If you...
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Alberta University Of The Arts Appoints First Indigenous Board Chair Adrian Stimson
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Alberta University of the Arts (AUA) has appointed the first Indigenous chair of its Board of Governors in the school’s 98-year history. Adrian Stimson, a multidisciplinary artist from Siksika Nation, was announced as the new chair in a March 20 press release from AUA. He’s sat on the Board of Governors since August 2021. “I am humbled and honoured to take on this role, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues on the Board of Governors to advance Alberta University of the Arts. The university is an important incubator for artists, designers and craftspeople; it is a place where we build capacities to reflect on our shared histories and inspire creative futures,” Stimson said in a news release. Stimson’s artistic...
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First Nations Chiefs Ask Feds Not To Claw Back $135 Million In Unspent Site Rehabilitation Funds
By Jeremy Appel Local Journalism Initiative Reporter ALBERTA-Chiefs representing First Nations from Treaties 6, 7 and 8 joined the Alberta government and a representative from an oil and gas industry-funded organization to ask the Liberal federal government not to claw back $137 million in unspent funds from its Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP). The feds, however, say the funding was part of a $1 billion grant intended for an early pandemic job creation program, which the Alberta government chose not to fund fully and is no longer needed. Loon River First Nation Chief Ivan Sawan (Treaty 8), Woodland Cree First Nation Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom (Treaty 6), Frog Lake First Nation Chief Greg Desjarlais (Treaty 6), Tsuut’ina First Nation Chief Roy Whitney (Treaty 7), Cold Lake First Nation Chief Kesley Jacko (Treaty...
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Motion to axe carbon tax for First Nations blocked, says MP Bob Zimmer
By Tom Summer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer says a motion put forward by Bow River, Alberta MP Martin Shields to axe the carbon tax for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities has been blocked by NDP and Liberal MPs, ahead of a 23 percent increase planned for April 1. The motion was brought forward during a meeting of the Standing Committee for Indigenous and Northern Affairs on March 18. Zimmer took to social media, posting a clip of himself and Shields on Facebook discussing the motion. “I thought it was a well-worded motion,” said Shields. “One we worked at, we worked with other parties, we talked about the importance of the carbon tax and how it affects a lot of people in our...
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Quesnel looking to address harm caused by Mayor’s wife denying Residential School history
By Tom Summer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The City of Quesnel is seeking to set up a meeting with the Lhtako Dene Nation, following the discovery that the Mayor’s wife, Pat Morton, had been distributing copies of Grave Error – How The Media Misled Us (And The Truth About Residential Schools), a book which severely downplays the history and harms of residential schools in Canada. The issue was addressed during council’s March 19 meeting, following a letter from the Lhtako Dene Nation, expressing outrage over having to defend the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the T’Kemlups te Secwepem’c First Nation, the Williams Lake First Nation, and others. “The calling into question of what our Nation went through is a slap in our people’s collective faces and is very...
